Winter Solstice - Shortest Day ❄️

Rosie_Scope
Rosie_Scope Posts: 7,610 Scope Online Community Coordinator
A snowy lake at sunset. The golden light of the sun is silhouetting the trees and leaving a haze across the lake

Today is the Winter Solstice. So while there are still some long dark nights to come, we have reached the peak!

In London, the shortest day lasts just 7 hours 49 minutes and 42 seconds. But from now on the days will start getting longer again and the nights will get shorter.

The difference in daylight hours happens due to the position of the sun in the sky. As the Earth orbits, it is tilted on its axis at an angle of 23.4 degrees. This means that during winter, the northern hemisphere is pointed away from the sun, causing colder weather and fewer daylight hours. In summer the opposite is true.

After the solstice, the northern hemisphere gradually makes its way back towards the sun and the nights become shorter again.

So while the worst of winter weather might still be on its way, at least we can look forward to the nights gradually getting just a little bit shorter!

Hope you're all managing to stay cosy and warm ☺️

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